"It is important for us to make sure that very graphic photos of somebody who was shot in the head are not floating around as an incitement to additional violence. As a propaganda tool. You know, that's not who we are. You know, we don't trot out this stuff as trophies. You know, the fact of the matter is this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received. And I think-- Americans and people around the world are glad that he's gone. But we don't need to spike the football. And I think that given the graphic nature of these photos, it would create some national security risk. And I've discussed this with Bob Gates and Hillary Clinton and my intelligence teams and they all agree." Obama told CBS.
Obama added that a photograph of the dead body of Osama bin Laden would not make any difference and said the terrorist leader will not be seen walking on Earth again.
"You know, the truth is that and we -- we're monitoring worldwide reaction. There's no doubt that Bin Laden is dead. Certainly there's no doubt among al Qaeda members that he is dead. And so we don't think that a photograph in and of itself is going to make any difference. There are going be some folks who deny it. The fact of the matter is, you will not see bin Laden walking on this Earth again."
Meanwhile, gruesome pictures of 3 other casualties in the US Navy SEALs raid that killed bin Laden have been published - 2 of them were dressed in traditional Pakistani garb and another one in a t-shirt.
The photos were reportedly taken by a Pakistani security official who entered the compound where the raid happened.
Time-stamps reveal that the images were taken an hour after the completion of the raid early morning on May 2.
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